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Truth about Women in Islam and meaning and teaching of Islam...

Reader comment on item: [The American Muslim Council:] 'Mainstream' Muslims?
in response to reader comment: you're right with the Sex issue

Submitted by Aliyah (United Kingdom), Jul 9, 2007 at 14:50

I would like to comment on this.

Christianity taught the same things....for women to be covered as does judaism....

Torah and Bible have been changed to adapt to what people themselves want. Although Bible and Torah were also sent by God, they were changed by people as they liked ...as we know there are many different versions of things and none is actually the real thing....it is a mixture of divine and man made verses. Whereas, it was said, the Quran would never be changed ...it will stay till the day of judgement especially because people have always memorised it and kept it in their hearts. Till this day, the Quran is just as it was revealed 1400 plus years ago and will stay so...how can such a miracle be a joke...? I have always enjoyed studying all religions and Christianity and Judaism and Islam are very similar...but thing is those holy books have been changed for which reason they became invalid and then God sent Quran as last book and said it will never be changed and it never has no matter how much people have tried ...instead Islam is spreading because people see the truth in it...

Some verses are mentioned in the Quran which sounds strict but Quran actually teaches only the same things that Christianity taught and Judaism taught before Quran was sent. The word Islam means 'Peace'. The muslim greeting Assalamualaikum means 'Peace be upon you' and the reply waalaikumusalam means 'and peace be upon you too.. Islam teaches that a person is not a muslim unless their neighbour is happy with them. A person is not a muslim if his neighbour is hungry while he eats. a person is not a muslim if they dont respect and treat their parents good,a person is not a muslim if they purposefully hurt other peoples feelings let alone phsically hurting people or even animals....so I don't see what problem people have with muslims or islam. I do admit....muslims don't act exactly nice enough for people to think nice of them but you should look at the teachings and not the people themselves...

If other people started looking at christians for their actions and not their teachings they would be thinkng christianity teaches to take drugs, hurt your own body and other people and kill people and commit crime and rape and plunder and molest children etc etc ....the list can go on....but that is how PEOPLE are ...not wha a religion teaches...

On another issue I would like to mention people say why muslim women cover up...well

Muslim women cover their heads because God so directed in His final book, the Glorious Qur'an. The head cover is specifically mentioned in 24:31. This instruction from God is only one aspect of a wider context of purity of thought and action for men and women.

Islam has very strict rules against adultery and fornication, and introduces many cautious measures to ensure the prevention and avoidance of such sins. We know how much problems in families fornications and adultery causes o it is all for good of mankind. One measure is the prescription that men and women should avoid intermingling as far as possible (see Qur'an 33:53). This is why men and women pray in separate areas or separate rows in the mosque. Another measure is that men and women should cover the specified areas of their bodies the sight of which arouse sexual desire in others (see Qur'an 7:26; 33:59). Yet another measure is that men and women should lower or turn their gaze away from looking at a person of the opposite sex (see Qur'an 24:31).

The idea that the head covering is a sign of subjection of women is found not in the Qur'an but in another religious book with which the Qur'an does not always agree. That other book teaches that women should have a sign of authority over their heads because man was not created from woman, but woman from man. The same book says that a man should not cover his head because he is the image and glory of God; and a woman should cover her head because she is the glory of man. The Qur'an does not identify with any of these ideas. The Qur'anic prescription of head cover does not in any way imply the subjection of women.

People often confuse the Islamic prescriptions with ideas they are already familiar with. Therefore when they see Muslim women covering their heads they hastily conclude that it is for the same reasons mentioned in some other religious book. But to gain a better understanding of Islamic prescriptions, they have to be viewed within the framework of Islamic thought.

Another mistake made by many is as follows. When they hear that the Qur'an includes the story of Adam and Eve they conclude that the Qur'an also upholds the idea that Eve was responsible for the fall of man, and that the subjection of women is a necessary result of God's curse on them. On the contrary, the Qur'an is free of such ideas. In the Qur'an, Adam and Eve were both approached by the Devil. The Devil did not approach Adam through Eve. Adam is therefore specifically blamed in the Qur'an 20:121. In other verses they are both blamed; but in no verse is Eve alone singled out to be blamed for the fall of man. Although men are charged with the responsibility of leadership in Islam too, this is in view of the practical dynamics of human interaction as prescribed by God. It is not because of a curse on women.

It would be a mistake to take the prescriptions of Islam and associate them with ideas held outside of Islam. Within Islam, women are capable of as much good as men, and they stand before God equally honored.

Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them; and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; and that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands..." (Qur'an 24:30-31)

In a truly Islamic society women have the following rights in Islam:

The right and duty to obtain education.

The right to have their own independent property.

The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it.

Equality of reward for equal deeds.

The right to participate fully in public life and have their voices heard by those in power.

The right to provisions from the husband for all her needs and more.

The right to negotiate marriage terms of her choice.

The right to obtain divorce from her husband, even on the grounds that she simply can't stand him.

The right to keep all her own money (she is not responsible to maintain any relations).

The right to get sexual satisfaction from her husband.

and more...

Muslim women have many rights in Islam...pepl seem to think women are looked down upon but it is quite the opposite in Islam. Women are treated like precious things in Islam and are given rights for many things which other religions never hav given and islam has given for over 1400 years....

I HOPE THIS HELPS PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND TRUE ISLAM A LITTLE MORE WITHOUT BIAS. The truth has always been fought against...and will continue to do so...people wil not see the good in anything , only make up the bad and spread that in order that the world remains chaos and death and fighting....islam teaches only peace and to love each other and God and prophets...

Aliyah

Submitting....

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